Hello! I just joined because of the most recent addition to my menagerie of animals. I have 3 cats, 8 chickens, 3 pregnant goats, 2 hermit crabs,

And, as of yesterday,

A beautiful male betta from Dave's Soda and Pet City. I've been going through the site a bit and looking at the exotic guys you all have and feel quite behind in my recent investment! Eventually I'll get a simple female too, but for now, its just the one.

His name is Kevin Fisher, after the RD of my current Dorm building. He's been smuggled in, by tucking his travel cup into a Subway drink cup. And now he's happy and at home on my desk.

I joined the site to make sure he stays happy and healthy for as long as possible. He's blue, my favorite color, so I picked some complementary colors for his bowl's decore :D :D :D

Hello!!! As a newbie myself to the fish herding world, welcome!! hehe My family used to keep bettas years ago and they are very hardy and very pretty.... nice choice! Love the vase!! We kept ours in a 1 gallon with a lily of some sort....

Dave's has a pretty excellent stock (for "veil tails"), and they seem really familiar with their care. The only thing the guy forgot to mention was a heater, which I am pretty sure I need to get cuz my room tends to be on the colder side. I'll get that tomorrow when I get out of work.

I don't go to ZooMass, I go to Westfield, which is right next to it.
I recognize that the vase is a tid bit small, but its mostly just until I go home next weekend. I have a larger tank there, probably a 5 gallon. .. . maybe more like a 10, because I had a turtle in it for a while. .

I'm really fond of Kevin already. I just find fish so much more calming than most other things. I had a tough day and just coming back to the room to watch him swim around and flare a bit made me smile. I've always wanted a betta so am happy to finally have one.

Quick question; I got some "BettaMin" tropical crisps when I picked him up. We always fed my brothers' blood worms; will this work ok? I'd rather not have to buy a whole new thing. It has a picture of a betta fish on the front, so I assumed it would be fine. . . But I'll get what I need to make Kevin happy

Kevin is a real beauty - congrats! As for feeding, a good staple betta pellet like Hikari Bio-gold is good. It is readily available everywhere in the chain stores and online. The small packet will last you forever.

Feed frozen blood worms (only one or two) or frozen brine shrimp only once or twice a week as a substitute for pellets. And a good brand of tropical flakes every so often will give him some variety/veggie in their diet.

If you feed dehydrated bloodworms, soak them in a little tank water for 10 or 15 mins. before you feed him to rehydrate them. Then they won't get stuck going down.